Richards Bay entrepreneur turns beetroot into wine

Tuesday, 6 October, 2026

Mbuso Kunene, citizen.co.za

Richards Bay entrepreneur growing her beetroot wine business, showcasing its potential at upcoming Rural Industrialisation Summit.

IN the heart of Mzingazi Agri-Village in Richards Bay, entrepreneur Abongile Kholeka Mdubeki (39) is turning an ordinary household ingredient into a distinctive South African product through her handcrafted Kholie Beetroot Wine.

Mdubeki has built Kholie Care around a distinctly local foundation, while developing an ambitious vision to take her product beyond Richards Bay and into markets across the country.

The wholly black-owned, woman-founded manufacturing enterprise was established in 2023, with Kholie Beetroot Wine as its signature product; a naturally handmade speciality wine that reflects Mdubeki’s creativity, agricultural knowledge and ability to transform locally-available produce into a value-added product.

Mdubeki dreams of seeing a bottle of her home-grown wine in every household in the region, and believes her product has the potential to appeal to a wide range of consumers.